Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Sourdough Chocolate Cake

If you have been reading this blog, you know that I use the sourdough starter. At one point, I got tired of finding things to make using the starter every time I fed the starter and stopped using it. I bought a book from one of the thrift stores in which there was not just bread but many things that could be made using sour dough starter. That made me look out for different recipes. I found one for a chocolate cake using sourdough starter on King Arthur flour website here.

I followed the recipe pretty much except reduced the sugar and oil. I reduced the sugar since I was using sweetened applesauce as part of the oil but otherwise the ratio of flour to fat to sugar is just fine in the recipe. I used half cup oil and half cup sweetened applesauce in the place of one cup of oil. Didn't make frosting since I don't usually frost the cakes unless I am decorating it. Come to think of it - cake is not that bad for health, it is the icing that can go heavy on the arteries, heart and not to mention thighs and the bottom.

I usually use bake even strips on all the cakes that I decorate. I must've done that here too. It kind of got a nice hump in the middle as you can see in the picture.

All in all a very good chocolate cake as per every one who ate it. It is surprisingly moist even after staying at room temperature for 3 days. If making for guests, I probably would use the whole cup of oil and not use applesauce. The reviews for this recipe on the KAF web site said the frosting is very yummy. And this cake freezes well it seems, so that gives me something to do with the sourdough starter in case I am planning a cake for the following week. I probably will experiment to make it work for other kinds of cakes too. Will keep you posted.

Where do you find a sour dough starter? I know of some families who make bread with starters and they grow them. Do I use a part of the dough that I make bread or pizza with and grow that?The chocolate cake must have been great if you say it was moist after 3 days. something for me to keep in mind to try out the next time I think of baking chocolate cake.

Thanks everyone for taking time to leave a comment. Pavithra, sure I'll help you by answering your doubts about this.Srimathi, King Arthur flour sells them. I grew mine. All you need to do is mix equal amounts of water and bread flour (You can use part Rye for better results) by weight and add some yeast (about 1 tsp for 1 cup of water ratio) and let it sit. Feed it every day for the first week and then store in refrigerator and feed it once a week. Feeding is remove a certain amount of starter, add that much of flour water mixture. That's all. Let it double in volume and then put it back in the refrigerator. King Arthur Flour has a detailed article on starting a starter. Wild starter is the one without yeast added to it. I added yeast since when I started this it was so cold here, there was no chance for it to ferment without added help. Hope this helps.

That one is on my list of cakes to try, great to see how it turned out for you! I tried KA's carrot cake with sourdough starter and it was fabulous. Stayed moist just like you say this one does. Thanks for posting your results!